We foiled two fixers in last year's Twenty20 in England, claims Lord Condon

Lord Condon claims to have foiled attempts by illegal bookmakers to fix the World Twenty20 in England last year.

Condon, who handed over control of the world game's anti-corruption unit to Sir Ronnie Flanagan last week, says he believes it impossible to totally eradicate match-fixing and spot-fixing in cricket.

His unit have begun a probe into what he called the 'dysfunctional' performance of the Pakistan side in Australia, and Essex police last week arrested county players Danesh Kaneria and Mervyn Westfield after allegations of spotfixing in a Pro40 match against Durham last season.

No quick fix: Lord Condon (left) claims to have stopped two illegal bookmakers during last year's World Twenty20

But one of the successes Lord Condon claims his unit had was in disrupting the efforts of known fixers in trying to recruit players from Australia and Sri Lanka in last year's World Twenty20.

'During the World T20 in the UK last year we got on the back of three sets of fixers who were trying to get into Sri Lanka and Australia,' said the former top policeman.

'The teams co-operated fully with us, told us about approaches that had been made and we were able to disrupt them.'

Sources in Sri Lanka claim players were approached prior to the tournament, when an Indian individual masquerading as head of a company known for bat sponsorships approached one of their senior players.

Then, when all the teams were in London, Sri Lankan players were approached in a London nightclub by apparent well-wishers who turned out to be illegal bookmakers. Senior players alerted the intelligence unit both times.